Cholera outbreak killed 1,500 in Yemen in two months: WHO

2017-07-01 23:06:52

The World Health Organization (WHO) says the cholera outbreak in war-torn Yemen has killed 1,500 people since late April while a total of 246,000 suspected cases of the disease have been reported over the past two months.

WHO’s representative in Yemen, Nevio Zagaria, made the remarks during a Saturday press conference in the capital Sana’a, adding that the number of suspected cases has multiplied tenfold over the past two months.

This is the second rapid outbreak of Cholera in Yemen over the past six months.

According to WHO figures, the number of people killed by cholera in Yemen was 1,300 two weeks ago while the number of suspected cases was over 200,000 people.

The UN health agency said a quarter of those killed by the Cholera outbreak are children.

Last month, the United Nations children’s agency warned that the number of Yemenis infected with cholera would rise to more than 300,000 by the end of August.

Cholera is an acute diarrheal infection that is spread through contaminated food or water. It can be effectively treated with the immediate replacement of lost fluids and salts, but without treatment it can be fatal.

Meanwhile, a two-year Saudi-led war on the Arab world’s poorest country has severely damaged infrastructure and caused medicine shortages in Yemen.

Yemenis suspected of being infected with cholera receive treatment at a makeshift hospital in Sana'a on May 25, 2017.

Cholera infection first became epidemic in Yemen last October and spread until December, when it dwindled. The second outbreak began in the Arabian Peninsula country on April 27.

Latest UN figures show that the conflict in Yemen has left 18.8 million of the country's 28 million population in need of humanitarian aid and almost seven million on the brink of famine.